Standard restrictions

Standard restrictions disallow players from using older content in some ascension paths. These restrictions prevent players from using items, skills, familiars and locations that originate from content that has been unavailable for more than two to three years, such as old Items-of-the-Month or world events.

Ascension types

Standard restrictions apply to Standard ascensions and the current special challenge path, and only apply while in Ronin or Hardcore.

Standard restrictions on a special challenge path are lifted immediately once it is no longer the current season, as well as when breaking Ronin or Hardcore.

Standard restrictions do not apply to past special challenge paths, dietary paths, or unrestricted no-path ascensions.

Restrictions

The list of restricted items changes at the start of each calendar year. Limited-time content may be used only if it was available during the current calendar year or the previous two calendar years. In other words, content is disallowed if it became unavailable before January 1 of the year two years before the start of the path. For example, Standard ascensions in 2015 disallow content that became unavailable before January 1, 2013.

Things that are restricted include items, familiars, skills, locations and other features. Restricted gardens will grow normally but can't be harvested. The bookself displays restricted skills, but they can't be used. You do not receive restricted correspondence, although it's possible to switch to an eligible correspondent from the options menu. Restricted VIP Lounge furniture is displayed as a taped-off barricade:

Note that everything derived from limited-time content inherits the unavailability date of its original source. For example, a distention pill is considered too old to use because its initial point of origin (a mysterious chest which hatches a Li'l Xenomorph which drops a transporter transponder which unlocks a zone containing an adventure that gives the item) became unavailable in 2011. Therefore, all items from these zones are forbidden, despite the fact that these items still drop, and the zones are still accessible to anyone outside of standard restrictions.

Messages

• Attempting to use a restricted familiar gives this message:

  That familiar is too old to be used on this path.

• Clicking the clan VIP pool table (or trying to view the leaderboard) gives:

  That clan thing is too old to be used on this path.

• Attempting to use a restricted skill gives:

  That skill is too old for this path.

• Attempting to pull a restricted item from Hagnk's while in Ronin gives:

  That item is too old to be used on this path.

• Buying restricted items from the Mall:

  You can't afford that item. (With meat from Hagnk's)

• Attempting to use a restricted item:

  That item is too old to be used on this path.

• Attempting to use An Awesome Ball Pit in Hardcore or Ronin:

  The ball pit is too old to be used in this path.

• Attempting to initiate a trade:

  You may not initiate trades with other players while you are on a path which restricts old items.

Notes

• Under standard restrictions, the player's profile includes a link to the restricted item list. In a Standard ascension the list's URL is standard.php, while in a challenge path, the URL is type69.php.
• Standard restrictions are also known by the name "type69". This comes from the URL of the in-game list of disallowed items, which was originally type69.php. This was a joke based on the Trendy item list's URL typeii.php, a reference to the [Type 2] format in Magic: The Gathering, which only allowed certain cards from certain recently issued sets to be used in decks. Because no other official name was offered, this joke name became the de facto term used by the players.

History

• Trendy was the first implementation of restrictions similar to standard restrictions. Standard restrictions differ from Trendy because the pool of disallowed items is set at the beginning of a year and does not change during that year.
• The first path to include standard restrictions was Slow and Steady in the Summer of 2014. All challenge paths since have included standard restrictions while they were seasonal, a practice that Jick has stated will continue into the foreseeable future.
• Standard restrictions extended to Standard when that ascension type was introduced on January 1, 2015.